The brother lobbyist of one of President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisers has been winning over clients since Biden’s victory was reportedly reported – creating conflicts of interest in the new White House inner circle.
Jeff Ricchetti, brother of Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Biden advisor, signed a lobbying contract with Amazon Web Services in November, less than a week after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, CNBC reported on Saturday.
Two days later, Jeff Ricchetti registered as a lobbyist for Evofem Biosciences, pushing for contraceptive coverage in federal health plans.
That same week, Steve Ricchetti, who served as chairman of the Biden campaign and as deputy chief of staff to the vice presidency, was chosen as “adviser to the president,” a position held by trusted advisers like Kellyanne Conway under President Trump.
The Ricchetti brothers co-founded their lobbying firm in Washington, DC, Ricchetti Inc., in 2001. The firm served pharmaceutical clients like Eli Lilly and Sanofi during Biden’s second vice presidential term, when Steve Ricchetti left the company to make Biden’s right-hand man.
But his resume has drawn harsh denunciations from progressive Democrats.
Ricchetti “is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and represented groups that are strongly opposed to Medicare For All and the public manufacture of prescription drugs,” said Alexandra Rojas of the progressive group Justice Democrats last month.
“If Joe Biden continues to make friendly nominations for companies in his White House, he will quickly risk fracturing the goodwill his team has achieved with the progressives to defeat Donald Trump,” she added.
A source assured CNBC that Jeff Ricchetti’s client list should not cause concern.
“Steve and Jeff keep their professional activities distinctly separate,” said the source.